I am Nick Sherman. I am a designer, musician, and skateboarder. I grew up on Cape Cod, went to school in Boston, and now live in Brooklyn. I worked previously for MyFonts, and now The Font Bureau.

My Life Story as of 15 Mar, 2006

I was born in Bangkok, Thailand, to Marcus and Judith Sherman on 2 March, 1983. I was the last of 3 children (following my sisters, Kelly and Anne). Two years later we all lived on a sailboat in Key West for a while before sailing back to Cape Cod and the house in Hyannis Port where my dad grew up. I grew up there too.

I spent much of my youth drawing, climbing trees, playing with fire, and taking apart electronic equipment.

I feel like most of my defining moments occurred during the summer between 5th and 6th grade (1993). It was that summer that I discovered skateboarding, underground music, vegetarianism, and a drug & alcohol free lifestyle. All these things continue to define my personality today.

Through underground music and the formation of my own noise band (Lisp) in the 6th grade, I discovered my first love of graphic art in the form of silkscreen printing on t-shirts and canvas patches. When I entered my freshman year of high school at the local public school (Barnstable High, in Hyannis), I enrolled in my first formal Graphic Design class (taught by Mrs Lee Weil). After freshman year two things were obvious to me: 1) I loved graphic arts; 2) I hated being just another face in the crowd in a huge public school. With this knowledge I was driven to make maybe the best decision of my life by switching to the local vocational tech school (Cape Cod Tech, in Harwich).

At the Tech I spent two entire weeks per month learning just about every aspect of graphic art, from running offset presses to working in a darkroom to setting typography; I could not have been happier. My mentor there (Mr Tom Noonan) would encourage me to achieve much more than I ever would have had I continued on at the normal public high school. If any single person can be credited with my success and enthusiasm for graphic design, other than myself, it is Tom Noonan. After being introduced to the books of Edward Tufte when I was in 10th grade, I decided that I wanted to be an information designer when I grew up.

During high school, my parents were divorced. It wasn't the best thing that ever happened in my life, but everyone came out of it in one piece. This seems like a good place to mention that while I was growing up, my parents trusted me more than many parents trust their children. Because of this, I believe my life has been much more interesting and, I think, successful.

After high school, I moved to Boston and enrolled in various evening classes at the Massachusetts College of Art (the same school my sister Kelly had attended). After not too long, I applied for full-time student status, and was accepted as a sophomore in the Graphic Design department (headed by Elizabeth Resnick). Among many things, MassArt taught me that design isn't only about visual æsthetics, but just as much so about conceptual ideas and processes.

MassArt is also where I discovered my love for letterpress printing (under the instruction of Keith Cross and Al Gowan) and typeface design (under Brian Lucid). While attending MassArt, my dream of professionally designing information was realized (much sooner than I had imagined) when I took on an info design position at Visual i|o in Somerville, and later at the MITRE Corp in Bedford.

I graduated from MassArt in May 2006 with a BFA in Graphic Design. Shortly thereafter, I began working as a design consultant for Bitstream Inc / MyFonts, who had seen a short critique of MyFonts I included in the synopsis for my senior degree project, and was soon hired as their first full-time designer. I overhauled the design of MyFonts and helped to organize, curate, and promote the world's largest collection of fonts. It was an amazing experience where I got to work with extremely talented and kind people.

After more than 3 years of dedicated service, I left MyFonts on the best of terms in February 2010 and took a new position with The Font Bureau.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell for now. Check back in the future to see where I go from here.

Nick Sherman facts

While appreciating other people's work is important, I try to spend more time on my own creations

I usually stay up late

If I had to choose, I would rather be deaf than blind

I once participated in a hairgrowing contest that lasted more than a year; I won, but wasn't notified until two weeks later that the other finalist (Dave) had cut his hair.

I don't have a normal sleep schedule, if I have one at all

I am hyper-sensitive to graphic form

I have the same middle name as my father and his father

I don't have cable

I collect painters hats

I have broken off my front tooth, or its artificial replacement, a total of 5 times: the first time when my pogo stick hit a patch of black ice, once when I fell while headbanging on my bike on my way home from the last day of 5th grade (after having gone swimming in a gigantic puddle), once from biting a stale piece of bubble gum, once when I fell off my skateboard, and once when my head hit an awning as my friend, Ryan, ran with me on his shoulders (I'm not sure if the tooth broke when my head hit the awning or the ground)

The first time I ever went snowboarding, my technique was to achieve as much speed as possible by going straight all the way down the mountain; I broke my arm doing so

Even though (and maybe because) my dad had a boat ever since I can remember, I didn't really enjoy sailing until I was in college

I can play the drums, guitar, bass, trumpet, tuba and kazoo (but not the piano)

There was a period of time when I decided I would change my signature to a simple peace sign. It didn't go over too well with the bank, so I stopped; I'm thinking of going back to it though.

I prefer reading non-fiction

My mom wishes I would date more often

I have only been grounded once, for stealing a pack of Incredible Hulk bubble gum that came with 3-D glasses from Stop & Shop. A security guard approached me while my arm was being squeezed in the blood pressure machine (the gum in my pocket). Afraid to call my parents and have them pick me up, I opted to call the local independent record store where I hung out and beg them to let my friend, Craig, off work long enough to come assume custody of me from Stop & Shop security. During my groundation, I passed the time by entirely covering my bedroom walls with pages from National Geographic. Lesson learned.

I have been in love 3 times

I have had my photograph in the newspaper twice that I know of, both times skateboarding, once on the cover of the Sunday edition

I am not enrolled in any political party

I once ate 13 slices of pizza in one sitting at All You Can Eat (“ACE”) pizza night at Papa Gino's

I have never been drunk or high

My news years resolutions for the past 3 years have been as follows: 2004 Rid my house of all stray pennies; 2005 Test and/or properly dispose of all old batteries; 2006 Refrain from saying anything negative, unless the result of doing so is positive

There was once a long period of time when I decided to simply not own a telephone of any kind. I used the payphone across the street whenever I needed to.

I grew up about ½ mile from JFK's house

Before I discovered graphic art, I wanted to be a pyrotechnician when I grew up. To prepare for my future career, I would construct my own fireworks with the infinitesimal amounts of gunpowder I could collect from dissected roll caps.

When I was young, my mom accidentally cut off a small piece of my ear while she was cutting my hair.

I can consciously dilate and contract my pupils.

At one point in my life, I had two rows of teeth, like a shark. Because of all that crowding, I now have a tooth that is totally sideways.

I have had the same backpack since at least 9th grade. It used to be my sister's (she used it in Hong Kong), and before her, it was my father's ( he used it while traveling Europe before I was ever even born). I almost retired it due to holes, etc, but have since repaired it back to usefulness.

I am very particular about the amount of dip I scoop up on my chips.

I tend to stick to the following cycle: Buy new pants in the fall, then when summer rolls around, cut them into shorts. Repeat.